Pa. officer disciplined in stun gun video incident

Friday, January 11, 2013

MILLVALE, Pa. (AP) — A police officer who used a stun gun on a handcuffed man has been disciplined, and a video of the incident has prompted a civil rights review by the district attorney’s office and the FBI, according to the attorney for the Millvale borough, where the officer works.

Millvale solicitor Jack Cambest said the officer was not fired or suspended, but has received additional training as part of her otherwise unspecified discipline, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Friday.

The FBI and Allegheny County prosecutors became involved after someone provided a 52-second video of the incident to the attorney for 27-year-old Thomas Jason Smith this week. Smith was hit with the stun gun after his arrest for public drunkenness and other charges in September.

The video shows a shirtless Smith sitting on the floor while he bangs his head on the edge of an office cubicle when the officer shoots him with the stun gun. Smith isn’t seen attacking the officer, though she had reported in a criminal complaint that he was shot with the stun gun to subdue him when he became violent. The video also shows some unspecified emergency responders smiling and laughing at Smith’s behavior.

District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. has said he’ll reserve comment on his review of the incident until he determines whether the video was edited, and whether other information surfaces to either support or contradict the officer’s account. FBI spokeswoman Kelly Kochamba said that agency is reviewing the matter with the DA to determine if there were civil rights violations and whether a more detailed investigation is warranted.

Smith’s attorney, David Shrager, told The Associated Press he doesn’t know who recorded the video. The AP could not immediately obtain the video.

Cambest said the video was taken by a police department employee, whom he wouldn’t identify. He said officials don’t know why it was shot.

“We do believe it may not have been leaked by the individual who took the video,” Cambest told the newspaper. Millvale is conducting its own internal investigation to determine if police regulations were violated pertaining to the video, as well as how Smith was treated.

Smith remained in the Allegheny County Jail on Friday, where he’s serving a sentence for unpaid fines in an unrelated case, Shrager said.

“Mr. Smith has had a very difficult experience. He has suffered from many, many different problems, mental health issues, poverty, and lack of education,” Shrager said. “He is happy that this incident is being reviewed and he’s simply looking for the dignity, respect and justice that all citizens of the United States deserve.”